On Friday, Manhattan welcomes Fairfield at Draddy Gymnasium. It gets started at 9 p.m. EST and you can see it on ESPN U. The Jaspers beat the Stags 62-40 on Feb. 12 and are 3-8 against them over the last four years.

Manhattan is in seventh place in the conference and trying to catch fifth place Fairfield.

The 14 points by Shane Richards helped the Jaspers to a 65-64 victory over Buffalo on Feb. 23. He is averaging 7.4 points and 2 rebounds per game. For the Stags, Keith Matthews put up 11 points in the 58-50 loss to Albany on Feb. 23. He contributes 3.4 rebounds per game in addition to his 5.9 points per game.

Fairfield StatSmack

Manhattan has come back to win after being down at half against Fairfield five times since 1997.

Manhattan is better under pressure, and has defeated Fairfield in nine out of the last 17 games decided by five points or fewer.

Shane Richards is ranked 6th in the MAAC in three-pointers.

Manhattan has more NCAA Tournament appearances over the last 10 years than Fairfield (two vs. zero).

Manhattan has an average margin of victory of 9 over Fairfield in 38 wins since 1980.

Manhattan has a stronger schedule than Fairfield this season (SOS Rank: No. 186 vs. No. 235).

Manhattan has a much lower average debt at graduation according to Kiplinger than Fairfield ($31,076 vs. $35,161).

That must sting. Manhattan has blown out Fairfield by 20 points or more on three occasions since 2003.

Boom! Manhattan humiliated Fairfield by 22 points the last time they played (Feb 12, 2013).